THE CONGRESS: Billions for Allies

For most of the Senate's week, senatorial voices echoed hollowly in a
chamber that was three-quarters empty. One voice clearly heard was that
of North Dakota's old-prairie twister, Senator William Langer, howling across
19 years of political history: the Democrats had not kept one of their 1932
platform promises, except the promise to put "the saloons back in
business." At the height of his oration, word came that Harry
Truman had just vetoed a private relief bill sponsored by Langer. The
old man roared: "The bill called for $778.78 to be paid to a...